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2013 Flavour Forecast

I am delighted to have been given a sneak preview of the McCormick (that’s Schwartz for those in the UK) 2013 Flavour Forecast. The Flavour Forecast is a look into their world of flavour and an insight into emerging trends over the next few years.

As you know, I am all about the spice and these guys are one of the biggest players in the market, so it has been fascinating to see what trends they are predicting. With brands in over 100 countries, including Australia, Europe, South Africa, Latin America and North America, they are in a good place to look at what trends and ingredients will be emerging over the next 3-5 years.

For their latest forecast they have identified 5 key trends that are then broken down into two different flavour combinations – think big guys, they have been bold!

The 5 trends are:

No Apologies Necessary – making meals that remind you of somewhere exotic

Personally Handcrafted – every home cook’s own signature dish

Empowered Eating – making food work for you through healthy choices

Hidden Potential – getting the most out of every part of every ingredient

Global My Way – using an ethnic ingredient in a truly local manner

The associated flavour combinations are

No Apologies Necessary

Bitter Chocolate, Sweet Basil and Passion Fruit

Black Rum, Charred Orange and Allspice

Personally Handcrafted

Cider, Sage and Molasses

Smoked Tomato, Rosemary, Chilli Peppers and Sweet Onion

Empowered Eating

Farro Grain, Blackberry and Cove

Broccoli and Dukkah

Hidden Potential

Hearty Meat Cuts, Plantain and Cinnamon

Artichoke, Paprika and Hazelnut

Global My Way

Anise and Cajeta

Japanese Katsu and Oregano

As you can see from their combinations they are bold, relevant and, in some cases, quite out there. I was thrilled to see a mainstream brand offering such unusual flavour combinations. Who would have thought of bringing back an ancient grain – Farro, and pairing it with the humble blackberry and warming cloves. These combinations will go on to be replicated by home cooks and industry experts alike.

One of my favourite trends was No Apologies Necessary. I constantly travel for work and when I get home to my tiny apartment I like to recreate the exotic food I have eaten to bring the sunshine back into EC2. I loved the nod to the Caribbean, with the combination of black rum, charred orange and allspice. I can imagine this on sticky chicken wings, bbq’d fish or in a mighty fine cocktail.

Empowered Eating sums up my philosophy on food – I love to eat things that are healthy without meaning to be, so my food choices work for me. Spices are a great basis for this as they are naturally high in flavour and contain no fat. I love dukkah, an Egyptian blend made from ground nuts and spices. It works beautifully on meat, fish and vegetables. I liked the addition of broccoli that brought this exotic seasoning back to somewhere we all recognise. I can imagine a huge piece of lamb covered generously in the dukkah mix, roasted until tender and served with mountains of broccoli and couscous.

Over the next few weeks I will be using the 2013 Flavour Forecast to create some of my own original recipes for you to try at home.

What do you think of these 2013 trends? Is their anything they have missed out? Let me know @mightyspice

3 thoughts on “2013 Flavour Forecast”

Really interesting post and the combinations are pretty original. I particularly like the ‘personally handcrafted’ and the ‘hidden potential’ groupings. I cook a great lambs liver (honest it tastes lovely) dish with madeira and sage but adding molasses to the mix….who knows may have to give it a shot. Other ingredients I think we’ll be seeing more of in 2013 with be: za’atar, sumac, pomegranate molasses and ancho chilli. It would be good to have some interesting plantain recipes – something from the Caribbean perhaps. Also perhaps 2013 is the year for bitter melon/korola to shine – an acquired bitter taste but has loads of health benefits.